I went to the same spot this evening. When I first got to the clearcut I heard crashing in the brush about 20 yards away. I looked up hoping it might be at least one of the same bucks. Instead, I looked up just as a bear was hopping on a log and hauling ass up the hill.

Our cigar club spent last weekend-in the rain-up at Farzan Farivar's place in the Okanagan. Friday when we got there, he jumped from his truck to the 4-wheeler and went up into the hill behind camp to check his trail cam. There was a very nice cinnamon bear in the first frame.... nice that is, until you saw the hump on his shoulders! We made sure the artillery was in working order, just in case.

Isn't there a "grizzly recovery zone" somewhere in that part of the state?
I've seen one bear in the Cascades that may have been a grizzly. My dad and I were out looking at bears last spring and saw one that was brown, larger than the others we'd seen, and appeared to have a hump. We both agreed that if we were hunting, we'd have to let that one walk just to be safe.

We hear rumors of griz near Plain, but it's never been confirmed. They're not really a problem anyway, since the numbers-if they are any at all-aren't worth fretting about. Blackies, now, that's a different story, especially around Lake Wenatchee. Remember that Bellevue City Councilman who had his face ripped off two-three years ago? It's not bright to leave your garbage out, and maybe he learned not to do that. Expensive lesson, though!

We've encountered several bears on the ridge behind my place, all with cubs, so it pays to be cautious. No one here puts out their garbage until the day the truck comes by.

From a somewhat local's perspective; there have been griz in the N. Cascades for sometime now. I am not as expert but fishing the upper Cascade River about 12 or 15 years ago I came upon some tracks on a sand bar that I am sure were made by a griz. I have seen griz in AK up close and seen their tracks and to me the ones I saw on the Cascade were identical those I saw up north. It was a big bear and it didn't just arrive a few days prior.